Tim Wu for the New York Times : Mergers Like JetBlue’s Proposed Acquisition of Spirit Usually Turn Out to Be Bad

A comprehensive meta-analysis of 50 studies covering more than 3,000 contested mergers in the United States in recent decades found that “most studied mergers result in competitive harm, usually in the form of higher price.” Whether it’s the combination of Ticketmaster and LiveNation to dominate event ticketing, the acquisition of Sprint by T-Mobile, the buyout of Instagram by Facebook or the consolidation of meatpacking and agricultural products, too many plainly competition-stifling mergers have been greenlit.

I’m not universally opposed to mergers and acquisitions, but stories like this are a reminder why I’m quite skeptical when major companies come together (Sprint & T-Mobile, Microsoft & Activision, etc.).